Qin's comments came after Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga,the top government spokesman, said it is natural for leaders of the two countries to meet on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

On the bilateral leaders' meeting, our attitude is clear, Qin said, stressing the current obstacles in bilateral relations were created by Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit last year to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors WWII war criminals, erected a serious political obstacle to the strained relations. The visit is the first by a serving Japanese prime minister since 2006.

Qin said the Japanese leader's move deeply hurt the Chinese people's feelings and undermined the basis of China-Japan relations.

China and Japan have seen few high-level political contacts since the Japanese government's "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in September 2012, a move that contributed to the disintegration of bilateral relations.

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese leaders took part in a grand gathering in Beijing on Monday to mark the 77th anniversary of beginning of the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.Full story

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- For the Chinese people, July 7, 1937 was a day when one of their worst nightmares began, as it marked the beginning of the eight-year-long China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Japanese empire, where many reckless militarist policies were born, invaded China and some Southeast Asian countries, causing huge pain to Asian people.Full story

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- July 7 is an anniversary that should be remembered by both Chinese and Japanese.

Seventy-seven years ago, at Lugou Bridge, known as Marco Polo Bridge to the Western people, Japanese troops attacked Chinese defenders in the nearby fortress town of Wanping, marking the beginning of the eight-year Anti-Japanese War.Full story